Helmet



Apil 2, 1935. l F. s. MANsoN HELMET Filed April 27, 1953 INVENTOR FRANK G. MH/v 0N =5`` r The present invention' 'relates'. generally' .to hel-Y niets-'such as are'gdapted tobe wornfbyaviators` and the primary objectr of the present invention-` The invention described rherein may be f manl ufactured 'and used'byv or forthe Government for governmental purposes, without the-.paye

ment to meot-any royalty`thereon."

is tov providev a' helmet constructedl-ofa plurality of sections, the meeting vedges `of `winch are adaptf ed to loe/secured togetherrfin such a mannerthat the' sections may' vbe accurately cut to'fobtain an accurately shaped helmet Awhich vWilli-lt the par-y ticular'headiupon'which itis worn;` and' in Awhich the' inru'sh of. air about 'tl-ieface aidr particularlyV about --theface and neck regions iseifectivelyy prevented. l y u.

A further object lof-the presentfirivention-'is to provide'in a helmet of this character, rneans-for effectively excluding rushes vandl-gusts fof air f f' and one that is capableof beingtte'd-againstf the fa'ceia'ndneck; portions regardlessfof'the con-j` v y Y formfto the'shape ofY the ywearers'head when-as,- v

tour 'of thefa'ce andneckofthewearer. il

A furtherf object of the present invention is' Y to' provide ahelmet in-whicli'tluttering'fand,otherA annoying'movements-betweentheinne'r'andouter layers Vof-"th'e'helmet cannotoceur.' f

Heretofore helmets have been 'rriade withpo'r? tions enclosing fthe head'l'aiid ears "'o'ft the ".w'earer; the ear portions; approachingleach other'benea'th Y the lchin'whe're someiform lof'I fastening ldevice has beenlocated. .This has re'sultedina 'butzh` ingv of 'parts ybeneath the chinj'a'sfwell `fasthel` presence there/of 'fast'eni'ng devices which are awkward to get "at or i'nthe wayandaremost -Un' comfortable'f by*A reason Yof the degree i ofafdjust` mentV necessaryfto rkeep the head :and 'ear p0rtions of the helmet accurately tted "to the fface of the wearer.

' "'Itisgtherefera a furtherfobjectfoffthe present inventionto 'provide a'helmetof this characterl with depending 1 portions which #cover 'the I earsY and 4#which are adapted to bef'extendedftowards one Yanother adjacent the schim, a-*.ren'o'valole chinstrap adapted to" cover'the chinf'portions of the Weareis vface being provided, which is ad'- justably 'connected 1to1 the dependingporti'ons .ofy

the hehnetjat' each end'to permitthefchin strap toY be-*centrallyf located on the lchin of the wearer. By fastening the chin straptofthedepending por f tiens-ofthe helmet inthis manner; the helmet is ntlorily comfortablyretained securely inplace. upon the lheadof the wearer, butlit .permits .the

wearerffre'e movement of the"' iaw,`eliminating entirely'lthe annoyance'siresultingffromchin straps wherein' corresponding parts are 'designated by like'numerals throughout the severalviewsthere-M. 1

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be more Yapparent"from the following detailjde- 'n scription of al preferred embodiment illustrated in the `accompanying drawing, in which; Fig. 1 is :a plan viewof va/helrnet constructed in accordance with. theprincipl'es of the presentV invention;-.`. f' r 5 Fig; 2' is a front view thereof; Y Figfr is "a section taken on; the line, Fig. 1;/l s y f 1.

Fig-74 is -a sectionallview taken onffthe line; @v -lof Figtlland v .i Fig.' "5 'is 1a. modification .of thel chi tion ofthejhelmet shown in Fig.: 1.

Referring* more y.particularly "to the `drawing of, the helmet inthe kpreferred rernbo'dirrienti'oi my invention, hereinfillustrated',A isyconstructed of the two top sections Afand Bfand@ the twosidel sectionsi- Cr andD, which are cut vto closely .co

- i2z'extending from front to rear .fof'lthe helmet;r

the path of which lies in the plane o's'ymmetry" of the helmet.V The two side sections 'C AandD ,are 'also similarly shaped, "the edges t3 of vfwhichfa're, attached to the corresponding edges '-lllfof-yeach top section `by a butt-'joint seam. lThefsections of' the helmet are laminated/'that isf'eachr formed of an outerlayer'i of durable material' such' as leather,v andani inner lining ffl E'of warm'v material, such as chamois,l fur, or the like. l'Ihe` outer Ylayer I5and thel'innerllining IVG -arecei mented together to iorm a Vlaminated structur and in so doing` objectionable fluttering, by which is meantv ak rapid-vibration ofthe outerlayer withrespect to the 'inner'liningpisprevented when? the headis` exposed to the air-strea`m- Reen-L; forcing strips il and I8 are secured toftheouterf layer 'and adapted for-covering thelseams" between the sectl'nS'of the'helmet, as illustrated in 1 and 2-.7 Ina like manner, thel'edges of the neckf opening' i9 and face openingQZr'are*reenorcedf Y by la kbinding ofl'leathe'r. Alsjas will vbe ynoted r by referring lto Figsjland'Z, the upper portiori'fZl -1 ofthe face opening is providedwithf'a 'depending Y head, thev lowerVv edge of which is shaped to' form to the` eyes of the wearer. -l

The lower forward portion of each sidesectionisrtapering in shapefwith the apexpoff the I v. the wearer.

.The end ofueach tapering portion, as shown in Fig.l1, has secured thereto-a reen- I forcingdisc 23' of stili' leather, s'uch'as cowhide,

Y to which is secured suitable fastening devices such. `as buckles 24. A chain strap v is provided', the

central portion of whichv is cut-away to forman opening 2,6 for receivingY the chin, the outer ends d 21 of said., chinstrap being adapted for :adjustterial; :By providinga chin 'strapof'this Vconstruction, free movement Yof the :jaw is. permitted and atthe same time thehelrnet is maintained securely in placefon the head of. tle wearer. The

\ i 1;'binding strips of 1eather1-zrherein! 4Vindicated 'by numerals VV29 and 30, r.are eachk secured to' the edgesf of Ythe face and Vneck openings by stitching Y y 'lalonglthe side edgesfof the.1bin`ding"strips only to "provide open` spaces indicated by v numerals 3|' and 32, which follow the contour :of the face Y in Fig; 5, wherein the ends of9thelcordsf33Qand determined asclaimed;

Vandneck openings.' Cords 33'and34 areiadapted 1 to bethreaded'through the spaces thusformed, kthesendsfoi which are Ypassed through openings 235 ,and36 formed in the 'reenforcing1-discsi23z -In f adjusting the,helmet/*tothelheadof thefwearer, Vthe cords'finbeing pulledtaut; tend to uniformly icontract or crimp the edges ofthe face and'neck [opening-and thus cause".A the .saine toconformto ithesshapefoi". theV face and 'neck.ofthe'Wearen`v `V Thecords arethen knotted attheir ends,-.a's `shown 'in Fig. 1. By providing. Ycords ofv vthis nature ad-` jacentto the face,y and neckgopening,VV theftendy encyY of-fthe'leather' ,to l,stretch is substantiallyv prevented 1'and an accurate ft of 1 the helmet. Vis 1 I'naintained..` Consequentlywhen` the chin'strap. is drawn taut about the chin, the face and neck openings willV tend .toY conform to the kshape Yof V,thegrface and neck', without. anyV objectionable puckering lof .thegedgesiiof the face` and neck openings otthefhelrnet.

lThe twoA side sectionsC andD are also 'provided ,with goggle-retainingstraps'i'l',` sewed.- at Y l top-sections extending `from front torear orfvsa'idf one end, as indicated by 'numeral 38,-to the side c sections, the free endsof .the latter being pro-V vided withv any well-known, quickly detachable A- modied forni of the.

3,4areanchored1to the buckles 24v instead ofA se- Acuring the "buckles ato' theV reenforcing disc`s`23 A: heretofore mentioned-` Consequently, when'ad-` justing the chin' strap snugly on the chin ofthe wearer, an even pull iis-given to the cords to cause the edges of the'materialjadjacentfto thefacex and neck openingsto beuniformlycontracted,

`and. to accuratelyconformthese openings lto .the wearers head without causing any discomfort to-the wearer;V i j o *fVarious other in'odifcationsmaybernadeinthe` materials, particular: manner of assemblyyxand f k the, spirit ofthe invention, "It is, therefore,to` be understood that althoughthe*inventionl has Abeen described in considerabledetail, such 1de-V Y 'scripticn is intended ias illustrative rather than bodied` andas the scope of the invention is to be 'details of construction 'without departingffrom limitingy :as the invention may be variously em- `"1 -An `aviators helmet comprising, a A.plurality Vof'sectionsfcut` to conform tothe shapefofthe' f Ccontracting mvent'ionfis illustrated" head and provide a face openingrand afneck opening when infassembled relation,thegineetingV edges of ksaid sections being adapted to be secured together to form butt-.joint connections therebef Y tween, and means freelyfand relatively movable with respect to the peripheral edges of] said face Y and` neck. openings forguniformlyifcontracting A the adjacent materials frming'said openings.`

of Vsaidv face and fneck` openings for *uniforn'ilyA -Y openings@A 3.V An aviatorvs liclelmeti,cjoiniirising'apluralityV of sections' 'cut to; kconform4 tol 'the,.shape of vthe theadjacent materials forming said Y head and-provide afaceopening and a neck open-z` ing when in. assembledffrelatiom `.the meeting edges of said sections-being `adaptedto-be,secured together tov form butt-joint connections therebe-V tween, and draw cords Vpositiond adjacenttoand;`A

extending continuously around the faceand neck openings respectively off-said helmet, Vfor uniformly'drawingtautthefportions of Vtheghelxnet adjacent to the face andqneckj openings toj lconj- Y formgsaid openingstogtheshapc `oi'.'tl'iefaceand' g,

neck of the-wearer.` 1 f helmet, and Va pair ofside sections, one for each 4.' An v4`aviators helmetfcomprising-Qa Apairing! j 'top sections extendingffromiront torearof saidfbutt-'joint l connections therebetween, eachvr of: Y

the 4side-sections of said helmet-being provided with `a dependingitapering portion adapted-to extend towards Vthe `'chin ofthe Swearer, a re movable chin Astr-axiayand i adj ustablefmeans asso'-l ciatedV withjfthe lendfoffeach depending Aportion Ior attaching said chin strapthereto,v ;V

- 5..An;V aviators. helmetVV comprisingpafpair Y f helmet,and aV pair*ofsidesectionsyone -Ior each `side ofthe head, themeeting ledges'dof, the topand side sections'ibeing Vsecuredtogether to-ionn buttjointconnections therebetween, veachifof the side sections oi' saidV helmet being providedwith a de?" pendingf forward portion' tapering towards the chin of the wearer, a removablechinestrap prof` vided c c with aY central portio'n` adapted Tfor. ac-

commodating the chin and fastening meansseV cured' atftheend of eachdepending portionfor` adjustably connecting fthe'end portions oflsaid chin strap thereto. f

6. An aviators helmet4 comprising, a pair of top sections extendingV from front to rear of said helmet, and a pair of rside sectionsyonefor each side-of the head, the meeting edgesf ofthe top and side'` sections vbeing vsecured together to formy butt-joint connections therebetweeneachxof Av the side sections of said 'helmet :havingal` tapering lower portion adapted to extend towards the chin of the wearer, a chin strap provided'with acup-y Y shaped portionof soft Vwarm material for accoxn-VVV modatingthe lchin, and *fastening `:means ,-se,

cured at the ends'v of the' tapering portionsgof said sidefsections for adjustably cOhneCtingsaid Vchin strapthereto. Y. I 

